teeter fs kingdom for a stage, TEACHING SHAKESPEARE’S LANGUAGE | that would ascend: the brightest “wre heaven of invention! “are = Aa" princes to act, and monarchs, to behold ; \ eee al Shakespeare’s Language— A Teacher’s Toughest Task And Greatest Pleasure You know the old joke: Question—name the top five problems w teaching Shakespeare. Answer—language, language, language language, language. Too true, roe true. A thorny problem, Shakespeare: language. But every day in clas world, teachers are solving thas problem. Shakespes hhase assembled whae we believe to be six solid choices fo Arelping students to sort out Shakesp ways. And 10 enjoy them. Some of these exercises ried -and-true activities creased by the hands of veteran teachers around edit res words and their fickle Opher exercives are new—tested in classrooms this yea all effective They ave Use chem with our best wishes EDITORS’ CHOICE: Sneaking Up on Shakespeare's Language Once we h Learning it—the necessary repetition, the ti the aid of hearing it spoken aloud, the frst rempts to speak it ourselves. Paul Stevenson, lathane Hale High School in Felsa, OK, now the coordinator for his districts program for gifed and talented seucents, designed a plan ro help students master ‘Shakespeare language in smal doses long before they ever encounter a play. His approach relies on pe vity 10 students in the beginning stages of early modern-language acquisition. tom hep Pru hepa Pe tas fede Sly icp. uh ede Toe Learned a language, we quickly forget the ea eps of to examine te oddities, ering 1 former classroom teacher tence, patience, and sens an apprcci ‘quotations ight spread xudents will read onto five at le the activity DAY ONE: Give each student « card Ack students co identify words o phrases they chink ate unusual or confusing. As they do this, use cheie ‘examples eo illustrate cha Shakespeare’ a : “ lic a z pom wis eR 1998 + snanesPraRe: 3TEACHING SHAKESPEARE’S LANGUAGE correlating adjectives (thee, thou, thine—See Shakepenre Winter 1997); ‘unusual word order; ellipsis; words shortened or lengthened ea fic the meter ete, Don't worry about covering everything--simply discuss the unusual language patterns as they ‘come up. (On a corner of the chalkboard, start a running vocabulary lise of ‘unfamiliar words and familiar words used in unfamiliar ways After discussing the distinguishing features of Shakespeare’ language, ask students to practice ceading their quotations to the person next to them Then go around the circle lening each student read, At the end of the activiry, ask students to summarize ‘what they have learned about Shake- spearc’s language. Day Two: Give each student a differ. cent card and, to build confidence in their ability to speak the lines, have students stand in a circle and say their lines as they did on day one, ‘Then ask students to walk about the room. As they meet one another, have them take turns delivering theie lines. This is all for day ewo—keep it shore and then teach something else, something that has nothing to do with Shakespeare: Dav THREE: Repeat the wall-about 4 WINTER 1998 + snaKESrEARE from day swo, bue cach time students meet, they are to exchange cards after they deliver their lines, dhus sending many fines chrough theie brains and over their teeth, Day Four: Same as day three, only this time students add an appropri action as they say che lines Dav Five: Onganize the cass into ‘groups of thiee, Give each student a card and allow the groups ren minutes to develop a skie in which the actors use each of their quotations, Reassure them that silliness and fun are appro. priate—ies okay to clown around wich Shakespeare. After the skits iden-tfy the play from which the lines were taken and asl students to make guesses about it For homework, ask students to make posters illustrating the character istics of Shakespeare’ language. Dis- play the posters around the room to tse as reference, As you begin the study of the play. have students keep a journal of hard-to-understand senrences. Larer, as the study of the play progresses, organize students in small groups and akc chem co review theit lists and report ra the class the most interesting examples Reinforce what students have learned with quick mini- lessons as you find examples in the text or when students have questions. Once you are well into the play, give students a handout listing the major characteristies of Shakespeare's language (the ma- terial in day one, above). Ask students to analyze the characteristics and find examples, You can measure the effective ‘ness of this plan by the amount of selE-assurance and ease stu dents display with Shakespeare's language. Did students Find the quotation cards easier as the weele went fon? Could they identify Ianguage characteristics? Did the pre-study work carry over into the study of the play? By sneaking up on Shakespeare’ language, students will approach the play with increased Tanguage skills and maintain them throughout. EDITORS’ CHOICE: Demystifying Will’s Words When students brains are on overload with the many strange sounds coming through their ears (and eyes), itis worth the time to interrupt your study and give them a few clear guidelines that will help them to understand Shakespeares word patterns. No ane does this better than Martha Harris, North Community High School, Minneapolis, MN, who designed a concise Shakespeare language primer that many teachers have nsed with unfailing success for eleven years Shakespeare is pleased to be the firs 10 publish “Demystifying Wills Words.” We have set i (beginning on the next page) so that it can be duplicated on a copier to makea booklet or printed on transparency sheets for overhead projection. Whatever the medium, it provides ca reliable, ively path to solid ground, a wel-come retreat when students are caught in the swells of «choppy Shakespeare sea. Present it before studying a Shakespeare ply or poem; stop everything and use it when language troubles seem averwhelmings or give it 0 stu dents to keep asa permanent [ rrewtimaea termentiat | | Rowuctnosecionaretne workfSantose CAs ast | tepreamuca Heinen | teocheam707 SeBstesor | fovacconpasticn | tage 3: Youtien so welt | | rage 4: “spit Our | Page 7 cupperi » | Lighten Up Page 7 (lower Friendship ts Beyond Words” Fage 8 “Enough Said"TEACHING SHAKESPEARE’S LANGUAGE Demystifying Will’s Words ‘When you first read a play by Shakespeare, his language seems VERY STRANGE! But once you start to catch on to some of the ways Shakespeare is using English, it will begin to make more and more sense. YOU MAY EVEN START TO LIKE IT! Ie wont ever be easy, but the more you read it, the more you'll start to understand Shakespeare’s Language. One thing that will help when you read Shakespeare’s plays is to remember that most of the time, what you are reading is POETRY. Shakespeare didn’t speak poetry when he was walking around London on his daily errands, bur characters onstage in Shakespeare's time almost always spoke in verse. ‘Some of Shakespeare's verse has a familiar type of rhyme and rhythm: jclan Double, double, toil and trouble, Lon, pad aed’ Fire burn and cauldron bubble. Macbeth 4310.1 lon by / (Be is f Mass Ellin, doy winter 1998 © shanesreane 5TEACHING SHAKESPEARE’S LANGUAGE= +): | Most of the time, though, Shakespeare's poetry has a different type of pattern, | | Much of his poetry doesn’t rhyme, but most of it does follow a very steady gTER (c PENTANE : Bea sees gee da DUH da DUH da DUH da DUR da DUK 5 es aAlables P* } 108 | 1 2 3 4 5 | le ea ee | ‘How can these things in me seem scorn to you? It's pretty amazing when you start to feel THE BEAT GOING ON AND ON... 1 2 3 4 5 | ‘Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, 12 3 4 5 | Who is already sick and pale with grief 1 2 3 4 5 ‘That chou, her maid, art far more fair than she. | This beat/syllable pattern is the reason that ‘most of Shakespeare's lines look like this— You see me, Lord Bassanio, where I stand, Such as Tam. ‘Though for myself alone } would not be ambitious in my wish ‘To wish myself much better, yet for you, L would be tebled ewenty times myself A thousan The Merchant of Venice, 32.149-154 tienes more fair. instead of tike this— | You see me, Lord Bassani, where stand, such as 1 | am, Though for myself alone I would nor be ambi- tious in my wish to wish myself much better, yet for | | you, I would be trebled twenty times myself, a thow sand times more fai. | The beat pattern—caited the meter—is also the reason that a character's lines may | __ start way over from the left margin. Two characters may share one 5-beat line. 1 a 3 4 5 | POLONIUS: — Mad for thy love? | OPHELIA: My lord, I do not know. ver, 2195TEACHING SHAKESPEARE’S LANGUAGE ‘As you read Shakespeare's poetry, it will probably help if you read from PERIODTO =| PERIOD (OR SEMICOLON) instead of always stopping at the end of the line— There had she not been long but she became CARS) Keep going! AAR» A joyful mother of ovo goodly sons; // And, which was strange, this one so like the other CA?) CAR As could not be distinguish but by names.// medy of Errors, 1.1.50-53 Also, if you read OUTLOUD, the meaning will come a little easier. Try it with the speech above. Remember— Shakespeare wrote these plays as SCRIPTS for actors. The lines were meant to be SPOKEN. Since Shakespeare's day, many words have changed. How? ‘Two Major Types of Changes: WORDS WE DON'T > Who would fardels bear? use ANYMORE » The serimers of their nation » he galls his ibe » with bisson rheum WORDS THAT LOOK THE SAME =>. could fancy (lil BUT HAVE DIFFERENT MEANINGS any other > Examine well your b/ood (lineage). | > He's as tall (brave) as any man in Illyria, » T would kiss as many of you as had beards that pleased me, complexions that liked (attracted) me, winren 1996 + stiakesreane 7TEACHING SHAKESPEARE'S LANGUAGE Shakespeare knew A LOT of words~ | more than the average person in our time OR hi hakespeare’s Estimated vocabulary of an | | | oo | oo vocabulary educated person today | | 6 30,000 words 15,000 words 088 | soi | exe 0817 He also created many NEW WORDS and i a ound with words through puns and | dislocate lived around ith words though pi | | other wordplay. obscene liane The list atthe le includes on hundreds of words that FIR Meditate his plays. | Shakespeare liked to play around with the ORDER of words. | He did such things as: ‘That handkerchief Sr REARRANGE Did an Egyptian to my mother give. = WORDS een Ola 3555550 [ 7 instead of \ andkerchief to my mother ‘An Egyptian did give that | Omit WoRDS Pl {go] to England. oe r=o'er | PET HORDS) ey OK Unless I have mista’en [mistaken] his. colors much . .. Richard HI, 33.35 WHY did Shakespeare do all of these things with language? sometimes to make the words fit FIVE BEATS sometimes because of the RHYME ~somerimes because he just liked to PLAY WITH WORDS ~but mostly because | THE WORDS SOUND GOOD THAT WAY 8 wiser 1996 + SHAKESPEARETEACHING SHAKESPEARE’S LANGUAGE EDITORS’ CHOIC! Sentence Scramble Michigan State University profesor Randal Robinson's Unlocking Shakespeare's Language (NCTE) is ‘fal of exercises to help readers overcome specific problems with Shakespeare’ rhyme, meter, pronouns, vocabulary, et, Here is Michael LoMonicos adaptation of his excellent exercise on word order in which sudents predict the arrangement of words in a sentence. ne problem thar makes reading Shakespeare so seems when Shakespeare usual sex begin with thae element which we of words, he would oormally put last. So with a ‘modern sentence such as “I ate the sandwich,” Shakespeare would say, “The sandwich I ate.” The following activity helps students to overcome this difficulty by letting chem identify the major elements in a sentence and rearrange them in an actempt to find Shakespeare’ sentence, Take the final speech of Ronee and flee in which che Prince begins: “A ‘slooming peace this morning with ie brings." Begin this activity by prinring each F the eight words of the Prince's Tine on a separate index eard. Print large and make enough sets of catds so that each group of four to five students wllle the decks. Have each group find a space in the rooms ro arrange the words che way they would say them in ordinary conversion. Most groups will probably compose something like "This morning brings With ie a glooming peace.” After hear- ing each gtoup’s results, encourage them to try again, this time ering to imitate Shakespeare’ style. If chey havent gotten it om the second try, ask them which of the three clements getsa pack. S (chit morning a glooming peace, ox brings wit 8) isthe most important. Theyll probably select “a glooming peace" and thea they should be able to reproduce Shakespeare's sentence The neat time they encout sentence with an anusual word order refer to this sentence and this activiy They now have a tool ro unlock a language problem, e ote EDITORS’ CHOICE: Mangling the Language Mary Ciccone, Neville High School, Monroe, LA, has her students learn from the mistakes of Dogbern, the ‘earnest but language-defcient watch guard in Mach Ado Abous Nothing. In the process they become familiar with reference materials hat will serve sher well in the future. watch, a postion he takes very seri- ‘ously, He tiesto sound impressive, but his efforts result in a confused jumbie of words and ideas. Give students copies of Much Ado 1d ask them to do the following: First, find one or two sentences or phrases thac sound impressive but are really absolute nonsense. Next, look for malapropisms— 3 words that ate mistakenly used for other similar words. An example from today would be saying “Pepsi Cola, Florida? instead of "Pensseola, Florida. Dogherry says “desartles” line 8) when he should say “deserving.” He confuses five other words in 33. Find them, List the line number, the mala propism, and the word he should ha used, For help, consult modern dic- tionaries and CT. Onions’ Shake- speare Glosary EDITORS’ CHOICE: Explication Checklist Fox focusing on a passage and searching out every logical, visual, and verbal feature, nothing beats the sjstem devised by University of North Carolina at Greensbora professor Russ McDonald. plication is « method designed to connect the ideas of a poam ‘oF a passage with the poctic devices that convey those ideas. good analyse ought eo be able, espe cially with a short passage, r0 account for the concribution of every line, pet haps even every significant word. The following lise of suggestions is offered asa guide, not a set oF iron-clad rules I is not comprehensive, nor is every recommendation invariably helpful The following topics and questions are useful for gg poems and poetic ddrama in general, bur Shakespearean exes seem especially hospitable to them, 1. Read the passage Pay attention t© the sentence, not the line, as the principal unit of oxgani- zation. Find the subject and moment, abous the poet Try ro summarize the main id or ideas. (Do this in wit having to comsnit conclusions to paper forces you co decide what you think.) 3. Outline che progression of ideas identifying major sections. Is rb, Forget, for the there a clear system of organi- zation? Ate chete antitheses (cere usually are in Shake spearel? repetitions? indisecsions? 4. What is the specific and general context? Hw does context, (speaker, situation) modify che speech? How does the passige SHAKESPEARE * WiNTER 1998 9TEACHING SHAKESPEARE’S LANGUAGE ‘contribute to the scene? to the biblical, of historical allusion play—in this case Macbeth—and play a large? What do they contribute connected them with lines the same 5. Is irony a factor? Is there, i 14, Do you find understatement, chreracter sail earlier. In this com orks wo a irepancy Ipeice,pesoifention eee eee ae ae! “how characters change or how sta) and meanings? Might this irany 15, Study the syntax, the atrange- : : haracters change or how they sety be unconscious? Or is the ment of words into sentences. TPs character consciously lying? Is word order normal or invert . 6. Identify the major and minor ed? Do sentences seem sim Se een themes ofthe speech, How do ‘or complex? Dl nese modify or suppor the 16, Does punetsation fee. mean- peaiees Weenie dey general themes of the play ‘ing? (Be careful with this one, ’ i ing scene 7 7 ie ‘ oe ee 7. How does the passage elucidace since Renaissance puncnution ee eee eee the character or the speaker? oF is imegular and often added by ee et Pai those of other characters, off oF civors) incident or sisation, primarily the onstage? 17. Examine meter as you have eee ad a committed. 8. Whar isthe speaker’ acinade syntax. Is ic regular or not? — toward the subject? coward Look for run-on lines or common word the hearer? toward hm or imgorant inane ofexous, + OPE. Your book ode ine om hhersel? In other words, what is 18, Pay arcention to musical devices the earlier scene, reacquaine yout hevone! suchasalieron, ym, a0. ssh de stato the pl 9. Examine the dition ofthe nance, consonance, cuphony, ar cha time, and weite a summary aragraph of that situation and a passage. After reading for cacophony, onomatopoeia. vere re re in dlenotation (straightforward Donic belabor these unless they summary puaraph of how yu meaning) think about connocs- ate meaning thnk she char esse tion, Look up important words 19. Disregard any of the above as Ai : ia me ae ie s in the Oxford English Dictionary you sce fic, but do nor disreg ene to determine their currency in number 20. write summary pat oa the Renaissance and ro discover 20. For every device, the essential ie enone tae ae a implied significance. Notice question is “how docs ie work? € characteris feeling as she de livers tht line. connections among t00ts oF words, as well as or archaie (bur still applicable) meanings. Now and Then 10. Think about wordplay, remem- A Hell is mucky. 51.38 EDITORS’ CHOICE: Come, thick aighs, / And pall thee in che dunnase smoke of hell eneetiee parce ie B. Fle, my lord, fie a soldier and afeard? nny Conse kiplewnses Shakespeare Sec Free: Teaching fe ee a Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, and A What, quite unmanned in folly? Lu, Nowe the imagery Ist pareu- Midsummer Nights Dream (7993), fie for shame! —3488.90 lay sbundane neirably Chris Renino designed a method 19. Yee who would have thought the od sparse? Do the images suggest demonstra how element oflanguage man to have ha so nzach blod in fates orf cert How udcbararercontiouty mea, ‘RESALE do the images promote or dar Je found lines from the end of the Give me the daggers. The ssping — FF a If he do bleed, / T'l gid che faces of the grooms withal—2.269-70, 71.72 1D. Whar, will these ban be clean? 5.1.45 A lice water cleats us ofthis deed. | How easy isi, then! 2.2.86-87 E, Wash your hands, par on your nightgown, taak not so pale. —5.1.65.66 Gee on your cccasion call us / And show us to be watchers. 229 12, Whae about the figurative language similes, meaphots, and symbols? Ans: Iyze metaphors with an eye on both tenor (che thing being de scribed) and vehicle (che ching used ro describe ie), and ponder the connotations of the comparison. 13, Are there classical ay hy 10 snanesrrare * WINTER 1998